Resilient vehicle-tire.



C. V. IVIERLING. RESILIENT VEHICLE TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.29. Ism.

Patented Ja. 7

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CHARLES V. MERLING, OF CENTRALIA, WASHINGTON.

ARESYILIEN'J! VEHICLE-TIRE.

Specificationv of ietters Patent.

Patented Jan. '7, 1919..

Application led January 29,-1917. Serial Ili'o. 145,302.

ication.

My invention relates to improvements in tire caslngsfor 'neumatlc t1res of vehicle wheels, and the o ject of my invention is toy provide a flexible tire casing which shall be adapted to be releasably fastened tothe rim of a vehicle wheel to cover andfco'nfne within it an inflated elastic tube, and'which shall be made of pieces of textile fabric united by adhesive material, as vulcanized soft rubber, to form a single structure, said pieces of fabric being of such .form and so relatively disposed that portions of their edges shall constitute the wearing surface of the tread portion of the tire.

A further ob'ect of my invention'is to -provide a flexible tire casing which shall be stronger, more d urable and less easily punctured thanl are t1re casings heretofore made.

I accomplish these objects by devices" illustrated in the accompanying drawings, Whereinv Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of one of a plurality of sections which4 are united to form a tire casing which embodies my inventlon;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, on broken line 2, 2 of Fig. 1, of a segment ofY a'tire casing comprising a number ofthe sections like the section shown in Fig. 1, whichsections are united by adhesive material; Fig. 3 is a view in side elevationof a modified form of a section of a tire casing embodying my invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional'view on broken line 4, 4.of Fig. 3 of a segment-of a tire casing comprising a number of united sections like the section shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig.f5 is a perspective viewof a piece of prepared-material of which the tire casings of Figs. 1 and 2 and Figs. 3 andk4 are preferably made. Y -v l -v Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference numerals indicate like parts, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 designate sections of a segmental portion of a tire casmg that 1s adapted to be disposed upon and to surround the rim of a vehiclewheel to inclose and confine within it an inner pneumaticv tube (not shown) in a well known Illa/1111er.

E ach section of the tire casing, like the. sectlons 6, 7 8, 9, 10, 11, A12 and 13, in side elevation, is of the form shewn in Fig. 1 and each like section 7, comprises a plurality of pieces of woven textile fabric, as, for in stance, canvas, the. sides of all'adjacent ones of which pieces are united` by adhesive material, as vulcanized soft rubber, to form a unitary section of horseshoe-like form, and all of said sections are disposed side by side and united by like adhesive material to form a completed tire casing.

v Each section of the' tire casing like section 7, is formed so thatit is thicker in that portion that forms a part of the tread portion of a'tire casing and thinner in that portion that engages with the rim of a wheel, whereby the joined side surfaces of adjacent ones of said sections are in a plane radiating from the axis o f the tire casing, as shown in Fig. 2, and whereby the periphery of the tire casing will describe a true circle which will be concentric with the vehicle wheel upon Vwhich thevtire casing may be mounted. l

In the operation of constructing the sev- Aeral sections of the tire casings, preferably To. form a tire casing, a requisite number wise against each other firmly lto stick them one to another to form a. complete unitary tire casing which is confined :on said formel,1

l -made of sections, like sections, 15, 16, 17,- l18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26, the secring while said completed tire casing is subjected to the operationof vulcanizing the soft rubber by which the sections are united.

Obviously, a section of horseshoeslike form may be cut by dies from material of the form shown in Fig. 5 but in such case there would be considerable waste of such material.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a segmental portion-of a tire casing slightly modified in form of cross-section, which tire casing is tion 15 of which is shown in side elevation in Fig. 3.

Each of the sections ofsuch modified formof tire casing is of the form of an isoscelestriangle in cross-section, and alternate ones of them, as the sections 16, 18, 20, 22` 24 and a sufficient number of said sections to make a complete tire casing are placed upon a. former ring side by side and united each to adjacent ones by rubber cement which is then vulcanized thus to produce a completed tire casing in an obvious manner.

The advantages of making the sections of the form of an isosceles triangle in crosssection is that pressure exerted by an in- Hated pneumatic tube against the inner surfaces of the bases of alternate sections, like sections 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 tends in a wedge-like manner to force them between the other'alternate sections 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26 to. make a tighter joint between adjacent surfaces, while pressure on thetread of the tire due to contact with a road- Way will tend to cause the sectionsl 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 and 26, in a wedge-like manner,

to'be forced inwardly between the alternate sections 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25; thus the The sections, like the sections 15 to 26, inclusive, of Fig. 4, may in an obvious manner, be cut into the required form from material like that illustrated in Fig. 5.

Preferably, the sections for a tire casing are cut from material illustrated in Fig. 5

inl such manner that the threads of both the Warp and weft of the canvas lwill lie in lines that shall be at an angle to the sur# face ofthe tread portion of the tire so that only the end surfaces of said threads shall be subjected to wear.

Manifestly, my invention may be embodied in tire casings whose forms in `of sections, eac-h of the form of a triangle incross-section andeach embodying a. plurality of pieces of textile fabric disposed side by side and united by adhesive material each of one-half of the number of said sections having the apex of said triangle'pro-v jecting inwardly and each of the other onehalf of the number of said sections having the apex of said triangle project outwardly, said sections being disposed side by side and united by adhesive material to form a uni-1 tary tire casing, alternate ones of said sections having their apexes projecting toward the exterior surface of the tire casing and the apexes of the others thereof projecting toward the inner surface of saidtire casing. 2. A tire casing comprising a plurality of sections, each section including a plurality of pieces of textile fabric disposed side by side and unitedby adhesive material, said pieces being of shapes substantially similar to the general form, in radial sections, of a tire casing, said sect-ions being disposed side by side and united by adhesivev naterial to form a unitary structure.

In witness whereof, I, hereunto subscribe my name this 18th day of January,'A. D.

. `CHARLES V. MERLING. 

